Anderson sets up duel with Kyrgios

Cape Town - South Africa's Kevin Anderson made a winning start at the ATP World Tour 250 event in Chengdu, China on Tuesday.

The South African No 1 comfortably defeated Australia's Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-4 in their first round encounter.

Anderson, currently ranked at No 45 in the  world, next faces hot-headed Australian Nick Kyrgios, who is seeded second behind Austria's Dominic Thiem at the Chengdu event.

Kyrgios, the world No 15, had a bye in his first round match.

It will be the first meeting between Anderson and Kyrgios on the ATP World Tour.

Results from the ATP Chengdu tournament on Tuesday:

Men's singles

First round

Karen Khachanov (RUS) bt Joao Sousa (POR x7) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3
Kevin Anderson (RSA) bt Jordan Thompson (AUS) 6-2, 6-4
Dusan Lajovic (SRB) bt Federico Del Bonis (ARG) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) bt Radek Stepanek (CZE) 6-3, 6-4
Adrian Mannarino (FRA) bt Denis Kudla (USA) 6-4, 6-7 (7/2), 6-4
Juan Monaco (ARG) bt Hiroki Moriya (JPN) 6-1, 6-2
Diego Schwartzman (ARG) bt Rajeev Ram (USA) 6-4, 7-5